Thursday, 5 July 2012

Local delights feast to focus on Lynas dangers

With the anti-Lynas Occupy Balok-Gebeng rally set to take place tomorrow, another NGO involved in the same cause is preparing for a feast of local delights - to be held a fortnight from now.

The Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) coalition will hold a family day at Teluk Cempedak, Pahang, on July 8 to celebrate traditional local delicacies such askeropok lekor, salted fish andkuih bakar.

"We want to highlight to the people that they can eat all these with a peace of mind now - but what will happen after the Lynas plant starts operating?

"Our event aims to get them to take a closer look at the impact Lynas will have on their lives," SMSL chairperson Tan Bun Teet (right) said when contacted byMalaysiakini.

Tan said the portions of the delicacies, enough for 500 people, would be prepared on the beach for the three-hour event that will start at 9am.

He was elaborating on SMSL's press release yesterday where he declared that more measures would be employed to halt the RM700 million Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp) in Gebeng, which has been given the green light to operate by the parliamentary select committee (PSC).

Tan said the group would also file two judicial reviews, within a week, against the decision by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) to persist with the issuance of a temporary operation licence to Lynas.

Move to nullify Mosti decision

They are seeking legal action to nullify the Mosti decision on the grounds that the minister, Maximus Ongkili, was biased.

The first review will be filed by Ismail Abu Bakar, Ali Abu Javali and Tan Ah Meng, who have submitted academic reports on Lynas' impacts during the hearing - reports that Tan said were treated with a cold shoulder.

On the other hand, Tan and another two comrades who opted not to attend the PSC hearing on Lynas will file the second review.

"We are taking this to the court to show that Ongkili is incapable of making an impartial decision. Therefore, the decision made should not be valid," he said.

The group also plans to apply for an ex parte injunction on the approved TOL, Tan added.

"This is to make sure that Lynas cannot start its operations. It will be pointless if Lynas gets a TOL while we are filing for judicial reviews," he added.